Press conference by US General Tommy Franks

(19 Oct 2002)
1. Soldiers lined up waiting for Franks
2. Franks greets soldiers
3. Close up Franks chatting to soldier
4. Cutaway press photographers on roof
5. US soldiers
6. Cutaway press
7. Franks walks up to microphones
8. Cutaway US army photographers
9. SOUNDBITE: General Tommy Franks:
"My belief is that our president has not decided that there's going to be any war in Iraq and so it seems to me that we would be premature if we were thinking about which troops might be involved in which place. What we do know for sure is that we have made a commitment to train the Afghan national army, we have made a commitment to continue to work Enduring Freedom operations here in Afghanistan for so long as is necessary, to be sure that we don't see the reintroduction of large terror cells here in Afghanistan the way we all saw them about a year ago. So we're going to continue that work.
10. Cutaway press
11. SOUNDBITE: General Tommy Franks:
"Terrorism remains a concern in this region and a great many other regions on this planet. So we have a lot of work to do before we're going to satisfy ourselves that the Enduring Freedom part of the war on terrorism is finished."
12. Cutaway press
13. SOUNDBITE: General Tommy Franks:
"What we want to do with usable munitions and weapons is to bring them in for use by the Afghan national army. We like what we see in the training of the Afghan national army, we are hopeful that we're going to see increased numbers in recruiting, I like the training scenarios that we see right now with ANA and I sort of hesitate to predict, but if I was going to predict we'll probably see increased and improved multi ethnic recruiting for the Afghan National Army in the months ahead."
14. Franks walks away

STORYLINE:

Greeting troops in Afghanistan on a whirlwind visit through the region, General Tommy Franks said on Saturday that he saw progress in bringing stability to the country and said any conflict in Iraq would not affect that mission.

Franks told about 300 troops assembled in Bagram near the tent that serves as the U.S. military's war room in Afghanistan that they had given the country's 25 million people "a chance" by being there.

Franks is the head of Central Command, the branch of the US military that operates in the Middle East and Central Asia, which is based in Tampa, Florida.

He visited Kabul and met President Hamid Karzai before flying into Bagram, about an hour north of the capital.

Earlier, he visited Jordan, Yemen, and Pakistan, and he was to continue on to Turkey and Egypt.

He spent about 15 minutes shaking hands and speaking to soldiers, then met with Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeill, the three-star general who heads US military operations in Afghanistan.

Franks sidestepped journalists' questions about US preparations for a possible strike in Iraq, saying President George W. Bush had not decided whether to attack. But he said the military would remain committed to the long-term stability of Afghanistan, including the training of a national army.

Franks was also asked about the US military's practice of giving confiscated weapons to local commanders, a tactic that critics say strengthens private militias and threatens the stability of the central government. Franks said the United States planned to turn over usable weapons to the national army as well.

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